It Ends Tonight
by x.Sadistic.x.Innocence.x
Summary: No matter how hard you try, you can not stop time... [Slight SasuSaku]


The usually bright sky of Konohagakure no Sato was dull and grim. Silence hung over the villagers, an eerie silence that reflected how silent they were on their insides. No one knew what to do on this day. Celebrate the death of a traitor? Mourn the passing of a long lost friend? No one could answer that, so they remained silent as they raged their wars of decision with themselves.

Only she had made her decision. Her usually lively mint-green eyes were darkened, appearing as hardened emeralds.

It was over.

Her dark eyes regarded her old teammate as he fulfilled the promise he had made so long ago.

_"Bring Sasuke back…" Tears blurred her vision as she spoke. "Naruto, bring him back."_

_"I promise, Sakura. I'm going to bring him back no matter what."_

And here that promise was, unfolding before her very eyes and all she wanted to do was to turn back time and do it all again.

He had returned to Konoha. And his sentence was death at dawn.

Time stops for nothing and no one. Sakura knew this, but still she hoped. Hoped with all of her being that it was all just one horrible dream that she would wake up from any minute. But she knew better. She knew that it ended in the next few hours—knew that Uchiha Sasuke was going to die.

So she ran. She ran with everything she had, thinking only that there was still time. She had time to tell him everything she wanted him to know.

He never let her finish.

_"If you go, I'll scream and—" _

**_'And I'll stop...loving you...'_**

So many things she had wanted to tell him, so many things he needed to hear. So many things he would not let her say.

_'I still have time…'_ She raced through the streets, her feet pounding at a horribly sluggish pace for a run, and kept hoping harder, denying further.

She ran and ran until she felt like her lungs wanted to burst.

But she couldn't run fast enough.

* * *

**…

* * *

**

Everyone was there. Sakura stood beside Neji, her face paper white. She did not cry. She did not speak. She did not look at him as he stood, ready to take a fatal blow to the heart he did not have.

"Sasuke…" Naruto had surprised everyone that day. He was strong; he showed no regret for his decision. "Any last words?" Not one person who watched could miss the glance that the Kyuubi boy shot towards Sakura. She did not respond.

Sasuke turned away. "Just kill me."

Naruto's returning shout rang in the air. "YOU BASTARD!" he roared. "YOU THINK IT'S THAT EASY?" Kiba and Shikamaru held the blonde back. His icy blue eyes were filled with the remorse behind the words.

"Just kill me." Sasuke did not look at any of them, staring into the distance as if replaying his life in those last seconds.

Neji stepped forward. With the absence of his presence, Sakura felt even more alone than before. She was falling, and no one was there to catch her.

"Goodbye, Uchiha." Pale skin unveiled from the white folds of his robe as Neji raised his hand.

Sasuke did not fight it. He knew what was coming. The hand of fate had been raised.

No one cried for him.

It was over.

* * *

…

* * *

"Stop!" A single voice rose over the silence.

A single voice defied fate.

A single voice stopped death in its tracks, if only for a moment.

The single voice that could do absolutely nothing.

Everyone turned to see Sakura, running forwards with her emotions spilling over her eyes.

If he hadn't been killed yet, seeing her running for him with such a lost expression surely would.

_'It's not over… It's not over…'

* * *

_

…

* * *

"Sakura…" Sasuke began, a weak smirk at play on his lips; doomed to be the last.

"Shut up," Sakura said sharply, pushing between Naruto and Neji. "It's my turn now."

She had to tell him. She only had so much time left.

_'I want my heart back, Uchiha Sasuke…'_

Tell him.

_'I want to be free from you…'_

Say it.

"I don't love you anymore."

His reaction was one no one had expected. He did not smirk, sneer, or glower at her. He bowed his head, face hardened in a look of hurt and betrayal. Bowed his head as if ready.

"I know," he told her quietly.

* * *

…

* * *

When dawn came, it was not quiet any longer.

Ino sobbed hysterically into Shikamaru's chest.

Hinata clung to Naruto's arm, looking away as silent tears fell from her face.

Naruto swore, cursing Sasuke for ruining everything.

Neji and TenTen stood over Sasuke's body, trying to pry her away from it.

Sakura screamed as she held onto his lifeless corpse. She screamed, refusing to let them move her or Sasuke. She screamed until she just couldn't scream any longer.

When no one had cried for him, she had.

When no one had loved him, she had.

And he had left her again. This time Naruto couldn't bring him back no matter how hard he fought. No one fought it. No one denied the truth. Sasuke was already dead.

It was all over.

It had been over before it had even started.


End file.
